How You Get the Girl
by Ariadnerue
Summary: Korra/Asami, oneshot. Every look they shared was like a secret, every touch was like a game.


_Taylor Swift's latest album is secretly all about Korra and Asami. Wake up sheeple._

* * *

It wasn't just some classic story of boy meets girl. It was more like boy meets girl, boy meets other girl, boy dates other girl, girl kisses boy, boy kind of breaks up with other girl, boy dates girl, boy breaks up with girl, girl goes missing, other girl kisses boy, girl comes back with no memory of break up and kisses boy, girl figures it out and breaks up with boy.

It was ridiculous and complicated. So it was a surprise to everyone when girl and other girl became best friends.

If they had just pretended everything that came before hadn't happened, it never would have worked. Instead, they accepted what had happened. They understood that they had hurt each other. And they used that understanding to build the most important friendship in either of their lives.

But then Asami put her whole life on hold to come with them on their journey through the Earth Kingdom to find more airbenders. And Korra realized very suddenly that she was falling in love with her best friend.

She didn't have the best track record when it came to relationships, considering her one actual relationship had been more convoluted and riddled with cheats and lies than your average murder mystery. She was thankful every day that she had managed to stay friends with Mako and Bolin despite her recklessness, but her friendship with Mako was still damaged.

That was what scared her the most. She couldn't let that happen with her and Asami. She was different. She valued her too much as a person and a friend. She barely knew Mako when she had developed a crush on him, but she knew Asami better than she'd ever known another girl. She had a sense of responsibility about her, having revealed her father to be an Equalist and brought her entire world crashing down around her.

So for the first time in Korra's romantic history, she was careful. She focused on being her friend, and things just sort of fell into place. She flirted, but subtly so. A tease. A touch. And to her great surprise, Asami responded. They started slow. And it was great.

Korra had never had so much fun. She had never had the chance to enjoy having a crush before. She was always excited to see her, always elated to spend time with her, always felt butterflies when she smiled or laughed. Every look they shared was like a secret, every touch was like a game. It was exhilarating. Right up to the last moment, the last hug they shared before Korra went to face Zaheer, even the dark moments didn't seem so bad.

And then the world ended.

The lovely little snow globe they were living in shattered the moment the poison entered Korra's veins. Nothing would be the same after that. Nothing could.

They went from two girls flirting to one girl trying desperately to gather up the pieces of the other.

They went from the freedom and fun of the beginning of a relationship to the pain and heartbreak of the end of a relationship in a matter of hours.

Korra was never in a darker place than she was in those few weeks after she fought Zaheer. She had never been lower, and for some reason, Asami stuck by her side anyway. The Avatar convinced herself she was a burden, that all she was doing was wasting Asami's time. Asami Sato was a genius, an innovator, a business tycoon. She could be out in the city living her life, but instead she was brushing Korra's hair and helping Korra in and out of her clothes and sleeping at Korra's side.

So Korra left. And when Asami offered to come along, she turned her down. And she spent the next three years trying to fall out of love with Asami Sato.

It didn't work.

That was how Korra found herself outside Asami's room at Air Temple Island in the middle of the night just a few days after her return. She stood silently outside the door, trying to concentrate on the sound of the thunderstorm outside to calm her nerves.

They hadn't had much time to talk about _them_ since she'd come back. They'd talked about everything else, and Korra could feel that the spark between them was still very much alive. But she felt like she'd betrayed her, even though there hadn't really been anything official between them in the first place.

So she was standing outside the door. In the middle of the night. Listening to the rain.

Until the door slid open and Asami was standing there, staring at her.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" Asami asked. Her voice was tired and her eyes were dark. She was wearing a dark red silk robe that cinched at the waist and her hair was down, long and loose around her shoulders. She looked open, vulnerable, and it made Korra's heart twist painfully in her chest. She stood aside from the door and tilted her head. "Come in."

Korra did as she was told. Asami closed the door behind her and thunder rumbled overhead. She stood by the door, still just staring at Korra, and crossed her arms over her chest. Korra took a deep breath, trying to decide what to say.

But nothing was good enough.

She had no words to describe how much she had missed her. How hard she had tried to stop loving her. How much she still meant to her.

Korra felt her eyes filling with tears as she looked up at her best friend. Asami just smiled and opened her arms. Without a word, Korra threw herself into her embrace, squeezing the engineer so hard all her breath left her.

"I don't know what to say," Korra whispered, her voice nearly lost in Asami's neck where she buried her face.

"I know, it's okay," Asami sighed, leaning back against the wall beside the door and taking Korra's weight.

"I missed you so much," Korra murmured.

"I missed you too," Asami replied.

The industrialist's tone was soft and her hands were warm as they slid up and down Korra's back.

"I thought you'd be better off without me," Korra said hesitantly after a few moments of silence.

Asami sighed heavily.

"I wish you hadn't thought that," she murmured, her lips in Korra's hair, and suddenly Korra could hear tightness in her voice. She was crying. Korra held her tighter.

"I was broken," Korra whispered.

"You weren't-" Asami began to argue, but Korra pulled back enough to look her in the eyes and cut her off.

"I was," she said firmly. Asami glanced away, frowning. "And I had to figure out a way to get better on my own. But…"

Her words stuck in her throat and she looked down. Asami took the opportunity to quickly wipe her eyes on the back of her hand.

"But what?" she prompted.

"But I broke your heart in the process," Korra sighed, and Asami stiffened in surprise. "You're the one that fixes things, not me, and I don't know what to do."

"Korra, I…" Asami stammered, cheeks turning pink as she glanced away. "I don't… I don't know…"

"There was something between us," Korra cut in, arms tightening around her waist. "Before I was broken. We were… we were just getting started. And I know you wouldn't have stuck by me like you did if you didn't feel it too."

Asami sighed helplessly, and she finally met Korra's eyes in a miserable gaze.

"I want to be with you," Korra said abruptly, and Asami inhaled sharply in surprise. "Whatever happens… I just want to be with you."

"Korra," she whispered, eyes softening.

"Anything I need to do to fix your heart, I'll do it," Korra continued desperately. "Anything. I'll… I'll wait forever, Asami."

"Korra," Asami repeated, a bit more firmly this time.

"Just tell me what to do," Korra blurted, tears in her eyes again. "Please."

"Korra," Asami said loudly, and Korra fell silent. Asami smiled at her, reaching up and taking her face in her hands to wipe her tears away with her thumbs. "Stop talking."

Korra laughed lightly and nodded. Then she reached up and threaded her fingers through Asami's, tugging her hands away from her cheeks.

They wouldn't remember later who leaned in first. It didn't matter anyway. All that mattered was that Korra's hands were in Asami's hair and Asami's arms were around Korra's neck and their lips were pressed together in an ardent kiss.

It was long and languid, warm and slow. Time wasn't a concern. It was the middle of the night, no one was awake to catch them, so they indulged. Asami wanted to explore every corner of Korra's mouth, and Korra just wanted it to last. So they stayed like that, Asami pinned to the wall beside the door, lightning flashing and thunder rumbling, for a very long time.

When they eventually parted, it was an equally slow process. Long kisses devolving into short, frantic pecks at the lips. They stayed close to catch their breath, lips still brushing whenever they moved. Korra's bright blue eyes finally sought out Asami's mellow green ones in the darkness, and they just smiled at each other for a moment. Then Asami reached up and brushed Korra's hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear with such gentleness it made Korra blush.

"You don't have to wait forever," Asami whispered. She brushed her lips against Korra's again briefly, teasingly. "All you had to do was come back."

The rain had stopped by the time Korra woke up the next day, tangled up in the sheets and Asami's arms. If she was a more sentimental person, she might wonder if the rain was symbolic or something. But she wasn't, so she just reveled in every point of contact between her and Asami's warm, sweet-smelling skin.

If it had been easy enough to explain away with a metaphor, it wouldn't be them.


End file.
